Sustainable and High-Performance Triboelectric Nanogenerator Based on Sulfur-Rich Polymer/MXene Composites

Sulfur-rich polymer (SRP) is a great candidate to construct a waste-based but high-performance triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), as elemental sulfur is a huge waste from the petroleum refining process and possesses the highest level of electron affinity (−200 kJ mol^-1). In our previous reports, the SRP-based TENG outperformed polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), one of the state-of-the-art triboelectric materials, by directly fluorinating the surface of SRP and adapting a blend system with fluoropolymer. However, these strategies raised environmental concerns about using F₂ gas and per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are toxic to humans. Herein, we introduce the SRP/MXene composites to circumvent environmental issues and to achieve a high-performance triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG). We achieved the maximized MXene distribution in SRP with minimized MXene content by introducing the segregated structure. This well-distributed MXene enhances triboelectrification through the enhanced dielectric constant via microscopic dipole interactions at the interface between SRP and MXene. As a result, SRP/MXene-based TENG demonstrated a record high peak voltage of 331.4 V and peak current of 19.6 μA, which are 2.9 times and 19.5 times higher than those reported in previous SRP-based TENGs. The used SRP/MXene film also can be recycled by regrinding and compressing due to its dynamic bond exchanging property, and the recycled SRP/MXene film maintains its modulus and triboelectric output performance. Finally, scaled-up 4-inch SRP/MXene film-based TENG demonstrated a record high peak power density of 3.89 W m^-2 after applying corona discharging, surpassing the reported SRP-based TENG.